Two-minute impact
HISD trustees unanimously voted to approve a tax rate of $1.1052 per $100 valuation for FY 2025-26 during the Sept. 9 board meeting. The approved tax rate is the same rate that was approved for FY 2024-25 and includes:
- $0.7552 for the local maintenance and operations fund, or M&O
- $0.3500 for debt service, bonded indebtedness and interest and sinking fund, or I&S
While HISD's tax rate will remain flat, some property owners may see increased tax bills due to rising property values, which are determined by the Harris Central Appraisal District.
Several state legislative changes in recent years have affected school district tax rates statewide, including HISD. As outlined in the Sept. 9 agenda packet, some of these changes include House Bill 3, which required tax rate compression by school districts beginning in the 2019 tax year, and Senate Bill 2, which required school districts to reduce the tier one tax rate by an additional 10.7 cents in 2023 on top of previously stipulated compression.
In November, voters statewide will also have the opportunity to approve or reject constitutional amendments that would increase property tax exemptions. Senate Bill 4 would raise the statewide homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000, while Senate Bill 23 would give homeowners who are over 65 years old or have a disability a $200,000 exemption. Both exemptions would only apply to taxes levied by public schools, as previously reported by Community Impact.
In case you missed it
Trustees first discussed a proposed tax rate of $1.1052 during the June 17 board meeting when they approved HISD's budget and compensation plan for FY 2025-26. The adopted general fund budget for FY 2025-26 includes $543.6 million in expenses and $543.7 million in revenue.
The approved FY 2025-26 compensation plan raised HISD's starting teacher salary to $66,000, and gave experienced teachers on average raises of 3%-7%. Most non-teaching staff members also received 3% average raises.
District officials previously said most of the funding for the teacher raises came from House Bill 2, which passed during this year's regular legislative session and included $2,500 raises for teachers with three to four years of experience and $5,000 raises for teachers with at least five years of experience.
Wesley Gardner & Hannah Norton contributed to this report.
